1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an alpine safety ski binding for retaining one end of a boot, preferably, but not necessarily, the rear end, to a ski until the boot is subjected to excessive bias.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
The present invention is concerned with bindings that comprise a body connected to a ski such that limited longitudinal displacement of the boot is possible, and to bindings in which limited pivotal movement of the boot about a transverse axis is possible. Such bindings are disclosed in French Patent No. 2,338,060 and in French Patent Application Nos. 86/07837 and 86/07838, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Each of these bindings comprises a jaw movable on a body adapted to retain the end of a boot to a ski, and to free the boot when binding forces applied to the boot exceed a predetermined threshold. For a rear binding, the jaw is movable, generally, in a vertical plane.
The bindings also include a lever operatively connected to the jaw for effecting a user initiated opening of the jaw' 5 e.g., in order for the user to voluntarily disengage the end of his boot from the jaw. To this end, the lever is equipped with means cooperating with the jaw to effect its voluntarily opening.
Such apparatus is particularly described in French Patent No. 2,338,060 issued to the assignee of the present application, as well as in French Patent No. 1,485,708, the disclosures of both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
In these two last mentioned patents, the operable lever by which removal of the boot from the jaw is effected is mounted for pivotal movement about an axis carried by a pressure element that functions as elastic return means for the jaw. In the '060 patent, the pressure element is a spring-loaded longitudinal sliding piston. In the second patent, a pivotal rocker is compressed by a spring against a ramp carried by the jaw.
It is further known to equip the boot remover lever with means by which manipulation of the lever effects manual closure of the jaw. This is particularly advantageous when the skier seeks to reinsert the boot into the binding under difficult conditions, particularly in powdery snow, i.e., in a situation where the ski rests on a unstable support which does not sufficiently resist a downward force that the skier would give his foot in order to engage the binding and close the jaw thereof.
In some bindings sold since 1981 by the assignee of the present application, for example, those sold under the designation "737" and "747", the lever-operated means which permit manual closing of the jaw are constituted by hooks which cooperate with ramps situated within lateral cheeks of the jaw. In such bindings, levers as well as the jaw present specific means for achieving the manual closure of the jaw by means of the lever, i.e., they have particular means that are added to the lever and to the jaw to assure lever-closure of the jaw.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved alpine safety ski binding which is simpler in construction and more easily operated by the user as compared to the known prior art.